It is very important that your work is your own. This includes the piece of music that you use. Creating a piece of music from loops is not your own piece of music it is an arrangement of other peoples work. You cannot take credit for it.. You did not write it, play it or record it. Any samples must be acknowledged. 

If you do use someone else's work, you will marked as a zero and fail to get your certificate.

Below is the school's policy on academic honesty.

Academic Honesty

ISS Students are expected to be principled, therefore, know inherently that

they must live up to the spirit of our ISS Academic Honesty Code.

Honor and integrity are qualities that all students should value and model

as fundamental tenets of a healthy learning community. Accordingly, our

students are expected to demonstrate personal respect for the Academic

Honesty Code and to help all members of the ISS community uphold its

principles.

All students will submit work that is their own. Students may receive

assistance on homework or in class assignments as per teacher-specified

guidelines (see below for the distinction between collusion and

collaboration). Recognizing the cultural differences with our community,

the ISS curriculum strives to educate students on the values of the

Academic Honesty Code, and teach them how to abide by it.

In teaching students about academic honesty we are preparing them for

the demands of the IB programmes (MYP and DP), as well as university and

life.

The IB states explicitly:

“Schools are reminded that all work submitted to the IB for moderation or

assessment must be authenticated by a teacher, and must not include any

instances of suspected or confirmed malpractice. Issues of authenticity, if

identified before the submission of work for assessment or moderation,

must be resolved within the school without exception.”

There are occasions when collaboration between candidates is permitted

or even actively encouraged. Nevertheless, the final work must be

produced independently, despite the fact that it may be based on similar

data. This means that the abstract, introduction, content and conclusion or

summary of a piece of work must be written in each candidate's own words

and cannot therefore be the same as another candidate's. If, for example,

two or more candidates have exactly the same introduction to an

assignment, the [IB] will construe this as collusion, and not collaboration. It

is essential that both teachers and candidates are aware of the distinction

between collaboration and collusion.

The following shall be considered violations of the Academic Honesty Code

and will result in disciplinary action:

• Plagiarizing (copying) work from others on any type of assignment

• Presenting source material without giving the reference

• Copying during a test, quiz or exam or using any unauthorized

reference or receiving unauthorized assistance

• Giving/receiving information during a test / examination

ISS Students strive to be Balanced Caring Communicators Inquirers

Knowledgeable Open-Minded Principled Reflective Risk-Takers Thinkers

• Obtaining/distributing test information illicitly or otherwise trying to

gain an unfair advantage in examinations or course work

assignments

Students who are giving/aiding/receiving or assisting in violations of

academic honesty will be considered to have violated the policy.

Consequences will follow prevailing school policy. As a guideline:



ISS uses the Internet based services of www.turnitin.com as a plagiarism

prevention and detection tool. Please refer directly to the website for more

information on this service. Students are required to submit soft copies of

their work (homework, major assignments, Extended Essays etc). Teachers

will use an electronic copy with Turnitin. They will also look at the draft

work/homework, and compare it with class work to check for consistency

in writing style, i.e, ‘is this the student’s usual voice?’

It is the student’s responsibility to keep draft work, copies of sources, and a

reference list (bibliography) to demonstrate that his/her work is authentic.

Above is the visual representation of putting together lyrics through Generate, Sort, Connect and Elaborate. 

The subject of the song is Child Poverty, through the topic of creating awareness.

The first step is to generate, to come up with ideas. That is shown in the middle. It did not matter wether the words are relevant or not. That didn't apply at this stage. The important part was to generate ideas.

The second stage is to sort. I highlighted in red the words I wanted to use. 

I then connected the words together that I thought would go together well. You can connect the words by subject or rhyming. Whatever is fit in your song. 

I then elaborate and build the lyric lines. When I have the lyric lines I can repeat the process. I would generate lyric lines. Sort which ones I want to use. Connect lines together and elaborate in verses or choruses. 

The commentary has to highlight key areas and resort back to the research, proposal and process of the project. It is link 

Subheadings

Evidence of using the knowledge/skills acquired throughout the development of the artwork.

What skills or knowledge did you gain through the process?

How did you apply those skills and knowledge?

What ATL's did you learn in the process? Where did you apply these ATL's

Understanding of the Statement of Inquiry

How does my proposal, process and product relate to the statement of inquiry?

Statement of inquiry: Artists raise awareness of the implications of change and innovation through their work.

Understanding of the Global Context

How does my proposal, process and product relate to the Global Context?

Scientific and Global Innovation, How do we understand the world in which we live?
What is the interaction between people and the natural world; How  do humans use their understanding of scientific principles? what is the the impact of scientific and technological advances on communities and environments? what is the impact of environments on human activity? how do humans adapt environments to their needs?

Development of the song through the process to the product

Did your song express your intentions?

How did your intentions change through the process of the song?

Reflection

Did the song meet your standards?    Why or why not?

What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the final product?   

What did this process reveal about you as a learner?   (think about the learner profile) 

Critical Analysis

Was the song successful in its ability to create awareness, promote change, ask difficult questions, record accounts of the past or predict the future? 

Did your song express your intentions?

Why or why not?  Did you meet your standards?    

What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the final product?  

What did this process reveal about you as a learner?    

What's one important thing you learnt about your process of creating your song?   

What would help make your song more effective?    

What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?     

In what ways have you gotten better at this kind of work?    

What's one goal you would like to set for yourself for next time?    

What would you like to spend more time on?     

How will you take this project to develop further in your skills?

A commentary must include

• Evidence of the use of acquired knowledge to inform the development of the student’s artwork.
  
• Evidence of the student’s ability to construct meaning and transfer learning into his or her artwork.
  
• The artistic response and the way in which it reflects or impacts on the world.
  

• A critique of the student’s own artwork including its ability to creates awareness, promotes change, asks questions and/or records the past or present, or predicts the future.

The criteria must meet.

• Use acquired knowledge to purposefully inform his or her artistic decisions. (Aiii)
  
• Construct meaningful connections between the process and product, the statement of inquiry and the global context. (Di)
  
• Demonstrate his or her ability to either reflect on the world or impact the world through their realized artwork. (Dii)
  
• Critically analyse his or her own artwork. (Diii)

Some fantastic examples of Key Changes

The first step is to generate ideas. This can be in a number of places depending on preferences and perhaps the style.

Starting with the chords.

Chords are the building blocks of a song. Putting together the chords in a sequence that makes sense to you and to the listener. Most Pop/Rock groups use the same chord progressions. 

As found here

https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/common-chord-progressions
https://www.hooktheory.com/trends

​To experiment with chord progressions you can take a familiar chord progression and add augmented/diminished or suspended chords to add interest and tension to the song. You can even rearrange the order, add/takeaway or substitute chords for other chords. 

The example below shows the progression I V vi IV. The progression has been rearranged to a V vi IV I which gives the piece a different feel. 

With the songwriting process the hardest part is getting started. Where do you begin? The words or the music? The truth is either.

It is about the marriage of the two and how well you put those elements together.

If you start with the words the important first step is to Generate ideas. I am using the Generate, Sort, Connect and Elaborate principle. 

The first step is identifying words that are associated with the subject.

The second step is identifying the important words.

The third step is connecting words that fit together. Either by the subject matter or rhyme scheme, alliteration etc.

The forth step is connecting the words and finding hook lines. Lines that really resonate with the meaning of the song.

Finally is to elaborate. Putting the words together with the music or forming a structure with the words such as Verse, Chorus, Verse 2, Middle 8, Bridge etc.